Because that can't have any problems? Say goodbye to anybody with Medicare or Medicaid seeing a doctor again.

Who said that would necessarily be the result? Maryland's Health Services Cost Review Commission sets prices for everything, and Medicare and Medicaid are included in these rate settings. I haven't seen a mass of horror stories about patients with Medicare or Medicaid being unable to see a doctor in Maryland recently.

That is because Maryland has been given a Waiver from the federal law on pricing for Medicare/Medicaid that all other states have to follow.

So every state gets a waiver once they establish one of these commissions. That's not so hard.

So how many billions of dollars to the cost of Medicaid/Medicare go up then? The Waiver allows Maryland to not follow those federal cost guidelines...

In the short term, yes, costs might go up. But remember that their waiver was conditioned on Maryland being able to keep cost growth below the average for the nation. Since the waiver was granted, costs in Maryland have gone from about 26% above the national average to about 2% below the national average; this cost growth was the second-lowest in the country. Ultimately, that's what this endeavour is about: bending the cost curve.

Ummm... yeah... Because balance billing (healthcare providers aren't supposed to do it but they do it anyway) and doctors not being in networks didn't exist before Obamacare. The problem can't possibly be providers and insurance companies, noooooope. Gotta be the blah guy and his socialist health care. ::eyeroll::

DamnYankees:way south: It's sort if like demanding your friend help you fix up that rusty old ford pinto you bought after he warned you that it was a bad idea.He could just say "no, get rid of the damn thing".

That analogy makes no sense, since this problem existed before Obamacare.

It's probably more like "my rusty old ford pinto is broken down. Then Obamacare got passed and my rusty old ford pinto is still broken down, so Obamacare is a failure."

bradkanus:DamnYankees: While the issue in TFA is a problem, it has absolutely nothing to do with Obamacare. It's just a general problem with the medical industry. Should we fix it? Sure. But "Obamacare failed to fix this pre-existing issue which was already broken" isn't much of an argument; Obamacare isn't a panacea.

Not a "panacea?" Uh, then what were you so excited about when it passed? It seems like a lot of people who cheered on the law because they are partisan before they are anything else, are now backpeddling on the law.

You guys said it was good.

It's not.

Move on.

This guy is right. Gas prices are still above $3, so this ACA thing was a farking waste.

bradkanus:DamnYankees: While the issue in TFA is a problem, it has absolutely nothing to do with Obamacare. It's just a general problem with the medical industry. Should we fix it? Sure. But "Obamacare failed to fix this pre-existing issue which was already broken" isn't much of an argument; Obamacare isn't a panacea.

Not a "panacea?" Uh, then what were you so excited about when it passed? It seems like a lot of people who cheered on the law because they are partisan before they are anything else, are now backpeddling on the law.